


Blind Skate

by apollosukulele



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: F/F, Gen, M/M, Otario, Otayurio, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Party, VictUuri, Victuri, Vikturi, chris brings his pole to everything, leoji, otayuri - Freeform, phichit is the ultimate matchmaker, seungchuchu - Freeform, viktuuri, yoi-secret-valentines2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-22 17:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9618131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apollosukulele/pseuds/apollosukulele
Summary: My gift for @midnight-kitsune as part of the @yoi-secret-valentines2017! I hope you like it <3Phichit organises a Valentine's Day party for his friends in which he tries to set everyone up... :O





	

**Author's Note:**

> I had a load of fun writing about and exploring different friendships and connections as well as the romantic ones so I hope you enjoy :D

_ Bzzz. _

Yuuri glanced down to see the event notification flash across his screen before immediately looking up at his roommate.

“Phichit, what are you doing?”

“Nothing,” he smirked. 

“You just sent me an invite.”

“I just thought with Valentine’s Day coming up and all it would be fun to organise a little something for those of us who aren’t fortunate enough to be in the midst of a wild romance…”

“I don’t want to go.”

“Come on Yuuri, it’s just a small event. Plus I’ve only invited people you know, so you don’t have to worry about being nervous around anyone new.” The smirk was still there, and quite frankly it made Yuuri uncomfortable. Phichit did that whenever he was planning something and, more often than not, that meant bad news.

“But there'll still be people there. People with cameras, even if they are friendly. There's a reason I don't go to parties.”

He found himself clicking onto the event page anyway and was greeted with a selfie Phichit had taken at the ice rink. He was doing his classic ‘hand-over-mouth’ pose and had decorated the photo with heart emojis and question marks. At least that meant it wasn’t in a club like the last time… that had not ended well. The title underneath read  _ Blind Skate. _ At first he thought it meant that they would be blindfolded or something but then his brain clicked and he realised it was a play on words and oh no. Just no.

“If you think I’m going to attend anything called ‘Blind Skate’ you really must be mistaken.”

“Do you not appreciate my puns?” Phichit asked, clutching his hand to his heart in mock offence. “I thought it was an excellent title myself. Why, what would you rather it was called? Love on Ice?”

“No, that just sounds like a crappy movie title. Keep your puns.”

“That’s what I thought. Sooo… have you read the description yet?” Phichit looked like he was going to burst with excitement at whatever this ingenious idea of his was. Yuuri sighed and reluctantly read out the plan.

“ _ ‘Blind date? More like Blind Skate! Prepare yourselves for the romance of a lifetime. All you need to do is show up and you’ll be whisked away into the arms of your one true love as you dance together on the ice. Join Phichit and friends at the Ice Castle, February 14th, 7pm.’ _ Phichit, this sounds like a terrible idea.” 

“Terrible, but great!” 

“No. I’m not going.” Yuuri declared firmly.

“Hey--” 

“I won’t do it.” 

“Well I guess you’re on your own then. You simply won’t get whisked away by your one true love.” 

“I don't  _ have _ a true love.”

“Not  _ yet _ .”

“You just said I know all the people going. I'm not in love with any of our friends.”  _ Technically,  _ he added silently to himself, hoping that Phichit hadn't done what he suspected. 

_ Bzzz _ . It was Phichit's phone this time. He looked at it. 

“Too bad, your true love just said he's going to come. But I guess if you don't want to I understand, I'll just have to let him down. He'll be very disappointed…”

“Phichit, what have you done?” Yuuri scooted over to where Phichit was sitting at the end of his bed and looked over at the phone screen. 

A surprising number of people had already said they were attending; Leo de la Iglesia, Emil Nekola, Michele Crispino, Christophe Giacometti (why did he have to invite  _ Chris _ of all people??) and Minako. Trust Minako to be first to accept such an invite - she was always asking Yuuri to set her up with one skater or another. Yuko and Takeshi had also said they would be there,  but seeing as they worked at the ice rink that was hardly surprising. Guang Hong, Otabek and Mila had marked themselves as ‘maybe’ and Seung-gil and Yurio had outright declined. Sara, Georgi and Minami had yet to respond. That left one person remaining on the list. 

_ Victor Nikiforov.  _

Yuuri found himself staring at the name in horror for rather longer than he meant to. Eventually he managed a forlorn, “Phichit-kun…”

“Isn't this great? You finally get a chance to talk  _ to _ him rather than about him. 24/7. Like you've done ever since he moved here.”

“No, no it's not. And I don't do that Phichit, what are you talking about…?” Yuuri protested, blushing furiously. Both of them knew exactly how much of a lie that was, but Phichit simply raised an eyebrow and let him continue. “Look, I embarrass myself enough in life without parties. There's no way this can end well. He'll probably hate me.”

“You never know, he might be in to strippers.”

“P-Phichit!!”

“Or pole dancers…”

“Stop!”

“Okay, okay,” he continued, not sorry in the slightest. “But I'm not letting you back out of this opportunity.”

\---

Which is how Yuuri came to be reluctantly dragged out of the house on 14th February by a determined Phichit and walking to his doom with Guang Hong, Leo and his annoying as heck roommate. 

Guang Hong had tucked himself up in an oversized sweater, coat, scarf, bobble hat and mittens. He was surprisingly quiet, even by his standards, which usually meant he was nervous about something. Yuuri could understand - neither of them were really the party-going type and even though they knew everyone who would be there, there would still be a lot of people to contend with. He had to admit he was rather envious of how warm Guang Hong looked, and wished he'd put something over the top of the fancy blue suit Phichit had insisted he wear. It wasn't that he didn't like it - in fact, he liked it a lot as it reminded him of Victor’s pink free skate costume - it was just that he felt overdressed and self conscious and, well, slightly terrified of anything that might make him stand out too much. At least Phichit had gone all out on his outfit too, so he wouldn't be the only one dressed up. He had enhanced his red and gold ‘King And The Skater’ cosplay with a black top hat and it made him look a little bit like a ringmaster. 

“So,  how is this event of yours going to work then?” Leo asked. They had all been trying to get answers out of Phichit for the last week and a half and he had refused to give anything away. 

“You'll see once we get there,” he replied, still as ambiguous as ever. 

“I have the CD of tunes you asked for.” CD? That was the first Yuuri had heard of a CD. He wondered who else Phichit had confided in about plans, and it didn't do anything to calm his nerves. Had he spoken to Victor? Did everyone else know except for him and this whole thing had really been set up to humiliate him? Not that Phichit would do that on purpose, of course - he would only be trying to help - but Yuuri was not confident in either Phichit's ability to judge a situation well or his own ability to handle it. He tried to put these thoughts out of his mind, but the nearer they came to the ice rink, the faster his heart started to beat. 

They were greeted on arrival by the Nishigori family - Axel, Lutz and Loop were particularly enthusiastic. They seemed to have taken matters into their own hands and had decorated the rink with a sickly amount of pink and red love hearts and banners sporting overly romantic quotes. Guang Hong’s eyes widened in awe as he looked around. It was as if all he had ever dreamed about had been put in one room. Phichit pretended not to notice the way Leo looked at Guang Hong’s expression with such reverence and admiration and instead congratulated the girls on their efforts. 

“It all looks amazing! You three are wonderfully talented!” He crouched down so as to be in their level. 

“Thank you Phichit!”

“Why hasn't anyone else turned up yet?”

“Can we film the whole thing?”

Phichit gathered them up into a group hug. 

“We came a bit early to set up, but it looks like you've done so well that it shouldn't take very long. Everyone should be along in about… twenty minutes and yes, you can film some of it and take pictures but your mum was very clear with me that you've all got to be in bed by nine, okay?”

Yuuri wanted to protest so badly as the last thing he wanted was photographic evidence that this event ever happened. Unfortunately he didn't get the opportunity to as they had gone as soon as they arrived. Loop doubled back only to compliment Yuuri on his outfit and take the first photo of the evening before catching up with her sisters. 

Yuuri looked despairingly at Phichit who simply grinned back at him. 

“Let's go put some music on.” He beckoned for Leo to follow him and the two sunny personalities made their way to the mixing desk. 

“Everything's so cool!” Guang Hong remarked in wonder. 

“I guess that's one way of looking at it.” Yuuri sat down on a bench at the side and began unpacking his skates. “For me, it just confirms my fears that Phichit really is up to something.”

“He's always up to something. But I think this is a nice something? It's all so pretty. To be honest, I only came to be supportive of Phichit. And Leo wanted me to come. I'm glad I did, though. I guess I'm just a little nervous about potentially being set up with someone.”

“Me too.”

“I doubt it'll really mean anything, though. I mean, we all know each other already. It's not like your best friend's suddenly going to fall in love with you because of-”

“Guang Hong!” Leo interrupted cheerfully from across the room. “Can you help me out a sec?”

“Sure,” he called back, his previously forlorn expression taken over by a hint of a smile as he made his way to join the others. 

Yuuri took the opportunity to properly take in his surroundings. It wasn't like the ice rink was new to him - no, he spent time in here almost every day. Rather, it just felt very different under these circumstances, and he was incredibly nervous and apprehensive. 

Victor Nikiforov had moved into the area in the new year. He and Chris had been good friends for years and apparently it was him who had given Victor the tip-off that there was a coaching job going at their local ice rink. He had applied and got the job with ease and moved in with Chris within a week of being appointed. 

From the moment Yuuri had layed eyes on the Russian, he knew he was in trouble. He was, without a doubt, the most beautiful human he had ever seen in his 23 years of existence and it didn't end there. Victor was a truly amazing figure skater, and if that wasn't something to look for a person he didn't know what was. In short, he was everything Yuuri could have wished for in one person and more. And it absolutely terrified him. 

Yuuri typically spent a lot of time at the ice castle, and that meant he saw a lot of Victor. Well, not as much as he could have done, because Yuuri tended to leave the rink as soon as he showed up. It wasn't so much that he was purposely avoiding Victor - well, in a way he was - but it was more to do with not wanting to be judged for his skating rather or making a fool out of himself in front of someone so amazing. He had seen Victor skate soon after he arrived. Yuko had arranged a welcome event where he had performed his free program and Yuuri had been completely blown away; never had he seen anyone move so gracefully, with such poise as Victor Nikiforov and Yuuri was in love.  _ With his skating, obviously, Phichit, _ he had insisted, though deep down he knew he was trying to convince himself just as much as his roommate. 

He was pulled from his thoughts by the familiar sounds of  _ ‘Shall We Skate?’ _ blasting through the speakers and he realised he had just been sitting there, staring into space with his laces half tied. As he finished the job at hand he heard voices approaching. 

“Geez, Mickey, it’s just a party.”

“I don't care. I'm not having any man take you away from me. You can't trust anyone, especially not during a Valentine's Day party. They only want to take advantage of you.”

“Sounds like  _ someone's _ jealous because he's not been on any dates himself.”

“I'm not here to look for romance, I'm here to protect my sister!”

“Sure.”

“I wish I didn't have to be here.” This slightly bitter voice was a new one and, quite frankly, not one he expected to hear. He looked up to see Seung-gil, along with Mickey, Sara and Emil heading in his direction. 

“Oh, hey Yuuri!” Sara called out, much to her brother's disapproval. Yuuri marched over to them in his skate guards. 

“Hi Sara, Mickey, Emil, Seung-gil. I didn't think you were coming.”

“Oh, his internet crashed.” Sara explained. 

“It wasn't funny, I was in the middle of a Lord of the Rings marathon!”

“Maybe it's karma telling you to buy the DVDs next time rather than streaming it illegally.” Emil suggested. Seung-gil shot him a salty look but gave no comment. 

Phichit bounced over to the recently arrived party to greet them and Yuuri took the opportunity to escape and made a hasty exit onto the ice. It looked like Seung-gil had the same idea as moments later Yuuri glanced over to see him sat by himself in one corner staring at his phone screen, earbuds in. He wondered how he could possibly hear anything over the volume Leo had chosen to play the music, but he assumed it was more of a ‘leave me alone’ signal than anything else. 

He glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it was five to seven. Good, that meant he had time to warm up before Victor arrived. Chris had always been one for being ‘fashionably late’ as he liked to put it and from what he knew about Victor he could picture him having a similar mentality. 

Yuko was now in conversation with Minako who, by the looks of it, had engaged in some serious pre-drinking. In another part of the room, Leo and Guang Hong were welcoming Minami. The Japanese skater had managed to sprain his ankle attempting a quad flip but he was still bursting with excitement for the event even though he would not be able to skate himself. 

“Yuri Plisetsky!!!” Three energetic voices broke Yuuri away from his focus, alerting everyone to the fact that more people had arrived; those people being Otabek, Mila and, of course, Yuri Plisetsky. 

“Gross! Why does everything have to be covered in hearts??!” He complained to his companions as Yuuri skated over to the edge of the rink to re-apply his skate guards. Although Emil and Mickey had also joined him on the rink, he would rather be hidden away somewhere when Victor arrived rather than out in the open and ready to fall on his face. 

Meanwhile, Phichit and Sara had gone to invade Seung-gil’s personal space and were soon joined by Mila. Yurio had been accosted by a drunk Minako and Otabek was trying to manage the situation as politely as possible whilst Yuko was simultaneously laughing at at them and flailing excitedly at the sight of Yuri’s silver-grey costume. 

Whilst all of this was going on, Yuuri made his way over to Guang Hong, Leo and Minami. Despite his injury, Minami was very enthusiastic and seemed delighted to be spending time with everyone - especially Yuuri - which in some ways was nice, but knew from previous experience that it could be rather energy draining in the long run. For the present, however,  he was more than happy to be around someone who had willfully taken on the talking roll and had actually started to relax into his surroundings. 

That was until a hand came and grabbed his butt from behind. Yuuri squealed in surprise. 

“Hi Yuuri,” the sensual voice greeted him, a flirtatious humour in his words. 

“C-Chris!” was all he could muster in response, still unsure of what to do in this situation. He might have made some other embarrassing noises too. Wait. If Chris was here, that meant-

“Chris! Leave Yuuri alone!” Victor called out melodiously. Chris had no choice but to move out of the way as Victor inserted himself between the two of them. Bewildered, Yuuri tried to take in what was happening. Victor was standing close to him. Very close to him. He wore his usual long, brown coat and scarf, his perfect silver hair immaculately styled and  _ oh God, he was cupping Yuuri’s chin with his hand and- _

“-to find romance, Yuuri?” Yuuri blinked twice. Victor had just asked him a question and he hadn't even been listening. Of course, he had been paying attention to Victor in other ways but he could hardly answer an unknown question with ‘your eyes are an incredible shade of blue’. The eyes in question were looking right into Yuuri’s own, as if searching for some sort of answer within his soul. 

“Do you have a partner of any kind?” Victor’s brought his hand up to run his fingers through Yuri’s hair.

“Umm…” He was sure he must be bright red by now, and he could see Minami freaking out from the corner of his eye. Luckily he was saved from having to answer by the sound of a photograph being taken and a purple dress running off into the distance followed by Phichit standing on a table whilst banging on a glass to get people's attention. 

“Welcome, everyone, and thank you for coming out this evening for a celebration of love and happiness.”

“I think most of us are already out.”

“Thank you, Chris. Anyway, as I was saying, now that we are all here I can finally tell you what you've all been dying to know since the invites were sent out - I shall now reveal how the evening is going to work!”

Minami and Emil clapped enthusiastically and were then joined by a few others. Phichit dramatically took off his hat and held it out for all to see. 

“In this hat there are several pieces of paper, each of which has one of your names on. When I pick two names out of this hat, the two people randomly chosen will pair skate together to one of the wonderful tracks Leo and I have put together whilst the rest of us watch the blossoming romance forming betwixt them.”

“Huh?!”

“Romance?!”

“Pair skate?!”

“Exactly!” confirmed Phichit, delighted with himself. “The evening will commence with some warm-up time on the ice but, before we pick our first mystery couple, our very own Yuko and Takeshi Nishigori will be setting the mood for us by skating the first dance of the evening!”

\---

**Chris:**

Heyyy~~~ xoxo

**Victor:**

Hey!!! 

**Chris:**

wuu2 x

**Victor:**

I went to the rink to practice but honestly I can't find any inspiration rn I don't even know what I'm doing anymore :( but I saw a cute dog so?? I think that makes everything better 

**Chris:**

That's rough. I'm sure something will come your way soon xx 

other than the dog 

New year, new you? 

**Victor:**

Maybe… 

How are things for you? 

**Chris:**

I'm still hung over from the new year's party I went to… ;) ;) 

**Victor:**

That's… impressive o.O

**Chris:**

Yaa 

I had a good time though and that's what matters, right? ;) 

Ok I have to share this with you 

So 

You remember I told you about Phichit? 

**Victor:**

The one with the hamsters??

Who takes all the cute selfies?? 

**Chris:**

Yeah him 

Well 

He brought his roommate along to the party 

And 

Holy fuck he was hot

In a cute kinda way 

I mean, he's not really my type but if I didn't have a bf already I totally wouldn’t pass up an ‘opportunity’ ;) ;) 

**Victor:**

Chris!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -_- -_- -_-

**Chris:**

What? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Victor:**

You're impossible 

Srsly though who is this guy do you have pictures 

**Chris:**

Thought you'd never ask 

[pic of Chris + yuuri pole dancing] 

**Victor:**

ADFFSSGLSGKDGJSFAFSGDHFGJ YOU BROUGHT YOUR POLE AGAIN REALLY 

I should have known 

But

[row of heart-eye emojis]

I think I'm in love <333333333

**Chris:**

[another pic] 

I thought he might be your type ;P

[spams all the pictures of yuuri he can] 

**Victor:**

?????????? 

How 

Why 

What is happening to me 

He's so beautiful???? 

the last one though wth why is he so cute no one gets to be that cute 

WAIT HE LIKES DOGS??!?!?!?!!! 

You can't drop something like that and then not introduce me 

Chrissssssss

pls

I'll do anything 

**Chris:**

Anything, you say? 

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**Victor:**

Ok maybe not anything 

**Chris:**

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**Victor:**

But srsly though

**Chris:**

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**Victor:**

I would like to meet him 

Wait does he have a name? 

Can you tell me everything about him? 

How old is he? What is his favourite food? What is he like? 

**Chris:**

Yuuri Katsuki, I can say what I know, 23, katsudon, according to Phichit ‘shy and introverted but also very dedicated and a good friend’ 

I might have believed him about the shy part up until now as he's not really spoken that much when I've seen him around the rink

But he was certainly not shy at the party I can tell you that much

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**Victor:**

Yuuri Katsuki.

He skates too oh my gosh :O

This is too good to be true?? 

I will think of him every day until we meet 

I think he is meant to be my soulmate 

**Chris:**

… 

Sure 

You know there's actually a coaching job going at our rink… You should totally apply for it and, seductively flirt with him every day

I think that'll work 

**Victor:**

OMG

I'm gonna do it 

**Chris:**

Cool 

Hey Victor 

Are you still there? 

Victor? 

VICTOR 

VICTOR NIKIFOROV!!! 

pls don't tell me you're actually applying for it 

I was joking

Kind of

I didn't think you'd actually do it?

I know he's hot but like ??? 

??????? 

Victor come back I need answers 

Victorrrrrrrr

**Victor:**

…i did it? 

**Chris:**

*internally facepalms*

I guess this might be quite entertaining to observe 

**Victor:**

I already booked the plane tickets 

**Chris:**

Why are you like this? 

**Victor:**

I'M SO EXCITED I'M GOING TO FLIRT WITH YUURI KATSUKI 

Can I stay in your house? 

**Chris:**

… 

Fine, sure, whatever xoxoxo

\---

“Yuuri.” Victor rehearsed. “Yuuri. No! Yuuuuuri…” He needed to find the right tone that conveyed all he wanted to say. He wanted to make the best impression possible. Enjoying the sound of the boy's name on his lips, he fastened his bike to the wall as and entered the ice castle for the second time. 

The first time had been for his job interview, of which there had been three stages. The first stage consisted of a chat with two of the resident coaches there; Yakov, his previous coach and an Italian man by the name of Celestino. Unfortunately for him, Yakov was not too impressed by the idea of one of his ex students playing ‘fake coach’ as he decided to call it. He came to the conclusion that Yakov was either testing him to see if he really wanted the job or was afraid that Victor would outshine him. Victor just smiled chatted enthusiastically as he normally would, Yakov’s increasing fury starting to bubble to the surface. Celestino, on the other hand, was much more receptive to the younger Russian’s ideas and Victor could imagine them getting on rather well in the future. 

Following the interview, Victor had to do a short demonstration to prove that he could skate the elements himself. He performed his current short program and flew through all the hoops with ease. Even Yakov struggled to find things to say about it. 

Then had come the third and final stage: seeing what he was like as teacher. 

“You'll be working with one of my own students this afternoon,” Yakov had explained. “He's one of our younger skaters but he's also one of the best.”

“OK,” Victor accepted. He'd met quite a few young and talented skaters in his time - he'd even been one himself - and he was sure he could handle whoever this person would be. 

“Let me introduce you to Yuri.”

“Yuuri?!” Oh no. He had not expected a first meeting so soon. Luckily he'd chosen some of his nicer clothes because of the interview but he didn't feel mentally prepared… 

A blonde teenager kicked the door open making his aggressive presence well and truly known in the room. 

“Oh no, that's not a happy face,” Victor couldn't help but say, which appeared to make said teenager even more angry than before. 

“Yuri, I want you to meet Victor, an ex-student of mine. He's going to be coaching you today. Victor, meet Yuri, one of my top students.” 

Victor stood completely shocked for about 5 seconds.  _ This was Yuuri?? _ There had to be some sort of mistake. He thought back to his conversation with Chris. This person had nothing in common in appearance or temperament with the Yuuri Victor had imagined. Chris wouldn't trick him, he knew that much. No, if something wasn't right he only had himself to blame. There was also the fact that the more he stated at the blonde skater the more he did seem familiar… 

“Well??” Mr. Angry questioned. 

“Are you… Yuuri Katsuki?” It was better to ask now, however embarrassing, than spend any longer worrying what might be going on. There was certainly something someone wasn't telling him, he knew that much.

Apparently that was the worst question he could have asked. 

“Huh??! That pig, Katsudon?!!” The guy recoiled in horror as if he'd been slapped in the face. Celestino stepped in. 

“That's no way to talk to a potential coach,  especially about one of your fellow rinkmates.”  _ Rinkmates?  _ “Victor, this is Yuri Plisetsky. Yuuri Katsuki is another skater here, and one of my pupils. He's a little older-”

“And not as good.”

_ “Yura!!” _

“-and not as aggravating.”

“I'm right here, you know. Anyway, what's this moron got to say that could possibly help me.” It wasn't even a question, just pure defiance. Victor laughed, throwing his head back slightly, his hair flicking of its own accord. Yuri Plisetsky trembled in frustration, though it was all show and no substance and honestly Victor found it kind of… adorable? He was also relieved that the Yuuri problem had had such a simple explanation, and proceeded to make conversation with the Russian Yuri as he put his skates on. 

It turned out a lot of Yuri’s anger was because he had been the mock student for three other coach trials that week and was getting rather fed up with it. It was also to do with the fact that he was struggling to get the feel for his short program. So that's what they worked on.

Victor could tell immediately that Yuri was an excellent skater, there was no doubt about it and his technique was near flawless, but he had been right to say that he’d been struggling with the emotional side. Something else clicked in Victor’s brain whilst watching him skate and he realised the reason Yuri had seemed so familiar to him was that he had been in some of the photos Chris had sent him, looking like he was in some kind of… dance off?

“The music, it's called ‘On Love: Agape’, isn't it? Tell me, Yuri, what does agape mean to you?”

“I don't know,” he said, flatly. “I didn't even want to skate to this stupid thing. It's meaningless and not me at all.”

“Oh, it's not meaningless,” Victor countered. “And everyone has the potential to feel agape. It's a feeling, and cannot easily be expressed in words. Agape is selfless, unconditional love. Love without expecting anything in return. Is there anyone or anything you feel that way about?”

Yuri was silent. Victor hoped that was because he was deep in thought and not because he was about to get angry again.

“You don't have to tell me. Just embody the love and think of them while you skate.” Yuri remained silent for a moment longer, before looking up at Victor. Something had changed in the boy’s expression and demeanor and Victor could feel it clearly. 

“Ok.” It was the quietest Yuri had been in the short time they had known each other, and the two syllables contained more meaning calm determination than Victor had thought possible. 

He turned the music on again Yuri performed his short program in full for the second time. The difference was remarkable. Places where he had previously powered through with force were now delicate and it seemed he was exploring different ways of expressing himself through the same movements. The whole routine felt more… selfless? Yes, that fit. There was still room for improvement as he was still getting used to the new way of being on the ice, but Victor, Celestino and Yakov were all blown away by the change they had just witnessed. 

“Yuri, that was amazing!” Victor congratulated him, holding out his arms in the hopes of a hug. 

“Ughh.” Yuri skated right past him and leant on the barrier, unscrewing the cap on his water bottle.  _ He may have found his agape, but he was still an opinionated teenager.  _ They spent the remainder of the time working on various technical elements, and Victor was actually sad that the lesson had ended. He had grown quite fond of Yuri and had enjoyed working with him. Beneath the show of aggression was a core of determination and emotional strength, and that was what mattered to Victor. 

He was asked to leave the room whilst the two coaches had a chat with Yuri and asked for his feedback. It was unclear as to whether he should wait around or not, but after a thoughtful ten minutes of looking at noticeboards an excited looking Celestino and a disgruntled looking Yakov came out with a message. 

“We'd like to offer you the job.”

Victor was over the moon. He was really going to meet Yuuri. And they would even be living near each other and hopefully training together. Though after the agape experience he realised this trip and sudden life change had been the right decision regardless of what might happen between him and the Japanese skater. After months of depression, he was finally beginning to find his inspiration again. 

Celestino had invited Victor to perform his free skate as a way of welcoming him into the local ice skating community. It would only be a small event, organised by a family that worked at the ice rink. but he was looking forward to meeting the other skaters. Especially Yuuri. How would their first meeting go? Would he be as amazing as Victor's mind had led him to believe? 

He had tried to gather some more information from the other skaters Chris had introduced him to. So far he had met a guy called Emil, a brother and sister he couldn't quite remember the names of and Yuuri’s roommate, Phichit. He was sure Emil had a crush on the brother, but the brother thought he liked his sister and was very annoyed about it. Victor found it rather amusing. 

Out of the four of them, Phichit had been the most helpful, as although the others knew him, they hadn't ever exchanged much beyond small talk. He and Phichit, however, had spoken for quite a long time. At least, long enough for Phichit to have dissected Victor to the core. The Thai skater had an uncanny way of asking questions that got you to reveal much more about yourself than you ever intended on sharing and by the end of their conversation he was sure Phichit knew what was going on in his mind better than Victor did himself. He wasn't sure what to make of that. 

Though despite coming away from their meeting feeling that Phichit had gained more from their conversation than he had, he had at least learnt some useful information about Yuuri. It was better to take things slowly, not to do anything too extreme too soon as he tended to take a while to open up to people. Victor found that a little hard to believe as he recalled the daring pictures Chris had sent him from the party but let Phichit continue anyway. He was also surprised to hear that Yuuri had never been in a relationship before. Neither had Victor,  for that matter, but he had had a bit of experience which was more than could be said for the other skater. Now, Chris had mentioned his liking for katsudon before and the other Yuri had eluded to it during their brief encounter, but apparently it wasn't just his favourite food but his favourite thing in the whole world besides skating and dogs. Victor allowed himself to imagine a romantic date where they would eat katsudon together (he hadn't tried it yet, but if Yuuri liked it he was sure it would be delicious) followed by a moonlit walk with Makkachin on the beach. Perfect. 

“Yurio!” Victor greeted as he pushed open the glass double doors.

“Not you as well.” From his position against the wall, Yuri Plisetsky made no effort to look up from his phone. Chris, having listened to Victor’s tale of the two Yuuris with amusement, had informed him of Yurio’s unwanted but reluctantly accepted nickname. Victor took a strange kind of pleasure in inflicting it upon him, as if testing to see how much the boy could be pushed. Yuri was not alone, however. A taller guy with an undercut hairstyle stood by his side, silently watching over whatever Yuri was doing on his phone. Victor tried to get a closer look. 

“Hey!” He exclaimed, pulling it closer to his chest. He would have guessed he'd been writing something personal had he not caught a glimpse of the tiny cats roaming around the screen. Victor smiled, amused, and although the other guy didn't seem to have a huge range of facial expressions he thought he saw him smile too. 

“I used to play that game,” Victor commented. Yuri glared at him.

“This is my friend Otabek, by the way,” he informed Victor, indicating the guy next to him. 

“Hi,” Otabek greeted, extending his hand. He shook it. “You must be Victor?”

“That's right.”

“Yuri has told be all about you and how you helped him find his agape.”

“I guess I helped a bit, really it came from Yuri and not me,” Victor replied modestly. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say as Otabek’s gaze bore intensely into him. 

“No, you really helped him. Thank you.” Yurio’s cheeks had turned slightly red and he had a feeling the only reason Otabek hadn't been forcibly removed from the room was because he was,  well, Otabek. 

“I'm glad I was able to help. I guess I'll see you guys around, I must get some practice in before my performance later!”

Victor began to walk off towards the front desk when a hand grabbed his arm,  stopping him in his tracks. 

“You mean you're not going to thank me?” Victor turned around so that he was face to face with his aggressor. Yuri must have noticed the confusion on his face as he continued to explain. “For getting you the job.”

“I…”

“Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. Well, you might have got it anyway, I suppose, Celestino seemed to like you and the other people were kinda crappy. But they asked my opinion, so I gave it. You were better than those terrible excuses for coaches that showed up and I wouldn't have wanted any of them to teach me again.”  _ Ah, so that's what this is all about.  _ Victor was… touched. He had gathered early on that Yuri wasn't exactly the type to give compliments, and the fact that he had said what he had just said to Victor, however backhanded it was, proved Yuri really did have feelings beneath his angsty exterior. Victor was honoured to have been shown a glimpse of them, and he was sure he felt a lot more than he was letting on. 

“Thank you, Yuri,” he replied, a genuine smile beaming across his face, one which Yuri returned ever so slightly. 

“Just don't do anything that might make me regret it.”

\---

After his morning practice, he ate lunch with Yakov and Celestino, and they talked about plans for the afternoon’s welcome performance. 

Yurio and Otabek sat opposite each other at a table in the corner, Yurio talking animatedly to his companion who seemed to listen attentively, his head resting on the palm of his hand. Victor waved at them and Yuri responded with an unemotional thumbs up. In another part of the room, Emil and the siblings, bickering amongst themselves, sat down with a shady looking guy who, by the looks of it, would have preferred to be left alone. 

That left one table with people he recognised. Chris and Phichit sat on one side and opposite them were two boys, one Victor guessed was Chinese and the other had headphones in and was moving to the beat. On the other side of Phichit was a very animated guy with a splash of red in his bleached blonde hair who seemed to be doing most of the talking. 

Victor looked round the room in the hopes that he might see Yuuri, but there was no sign of the Japanese skater. He noticed some other interesting things, though. A couple seemed to be enjoying a pleasant meal together when a guy with dark hair stuck out to the front walked in, noticed them, looked as if his heart had physically been ripped out of his chest and walked out again. There was another guy with a similar haircut to Otabek’s who seemed pretty obnoxious. Victor noted the sunglasses on his head despite the winter weather and the fact that they were indoors, and he and his girlfriend moved to sit down with Chris and Phichit. It seemed that the others were not so keen on this decision and conversation around the table became rather awkward as they all started concentrating very hard on what they were eating. 

Victor thanked Yakov and Celestino for the lunch together and excused himself to go wander round the ice castle. This was partly to familiarise himself with the building but mostly on the off chance he'd bump into Yuuri along the way. 

Luckily he didn't have to search for long. It seemed Yuuri had taken advantage of the nearly empty rink during lunch break to practice, and Victor's breath was taken away. He watched from a distance, taking in his every move as he moved seamlessly across the ice. He wasn't perfect by any means, but even though this was just a practice he could sense the drama and storytelling in his every move. Victor let out a small whistle from his lips; Yuuri, even from this distance, was more beautiful than he could have ever imagined. He wasn't sure how long he stayed to watch, but at some point he checked his phone to see that he had very little time to prepare for his free skate and slipped out as silently as he had come. 

His performance went well. Not Victor Nikiforov amazing, but it was good enough for everyone to be in rapturous applause. He couldn't help feeling a little disappointed, however. He had lost his element of surprise and that, for him, meant the end. 

“Victor is so cool!” the Chinese guy he had seen earlier was exclaiming to a blushing Yuuri. 

“Y-yeah, he is…”

“I'm gonna try a quad flip now!!” It was the guy with the red streak in his hair’s turn to speak and he was completely in awe with Victor's signature move. Victor decided it was a good time to introduce himself and test the waters. Okay, maybe he was being slightly arrogant, knowing that the three of them clearly looked up to him and yes, maybe he was acting like a bit of a diva. However, he hadn’t lost all of his element of surprise and he was certainly intending on surprising Yuuri. 

“Hi!” He waved, making his way over to them, smiling playfully. All three skaters looked taken aback to varying degrees and Victor knew he had the upper hand in the situation. He wasn’t going to abuse that power, of course, though directing some of it in Yuuri’s direction wouldn’t do any harm. He greeted them all in turn before turning to the skater who had drawn him all the way from Russia.

“You must be Yuuri,” he said, making the first step of communication. Then, whilst reaching out and tracing his hand down his arm, “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Yuuri fumbling for words was one of the most adorable things he had ever seen, and the blush and startled confusion on his face did nothing to help Victor's emotions. Minami and Guang Hong -  he had found out these were the names of the two other skaters - were both freaking out at the sudden interaction Victor had just initiated. Minami had gone into full fanboy mode and looked like he genuinely might cry from excitement and emotions in general, whilst Guang Hong gripped his phone tighter and tighter,  unable to move as he stared with wide eyes at the situation in front of him. The thing was was, although he was projecting an air of confidence around Yuuri, he knew deep down that is was really Yuuri who had the power over him. Meeting for the first time simply confirmed that he was, in fact, completely helpless and infatuated and he knew he had already lost. 

The weeks continued with pretty much the same dynamic. Victor would secretly watch Yuuri skate and attempt interaction when he could, but it was as if the boy was deliberately trying to avoid him and it was beginning to get infuriating. He tried to talk to Chris about it, but he had just gone on about ‘what drunk Yuuri would be like’. This annoyed him to the point where he actually considered getting Yuuri drunk before immediately feeling guilty for having such thoughts. He just wished he had more chance to talk to Phichit. He seemed to know Yuuri better than anyone. He'd know what to do. 

There had been one time which had gone better than all the others. He'd been taking Makkachin for a walk when he noticed a figure in the distance jogging towards him. Yuuri, the figure in question, stopped abruptly in his tracks at the sight of a dog and immediately started fussing over him. Makkachin, delighted by the sudden attention, leapt upon him, knocking him to the ground and licking his face with delight. It was the happiest he'd seen Yuuri since he arrived. 

“Sorry about that. Makkachin! Off!” It occurred to Victor that however much Yuuri seemed to be enjoying life under the paws of a poodle he still had a responsibility as a dog owner. 

“It’s fine, really,” Yuuri explained, moving to sit up. It was then that he noticed who had just spoken and was standing a few feet in front of him. He scrambled backwards and hastily got to his feet, brushing the dirt of the pavement off his clothes. 

“V-Victor!”

“Hi Yuuri,” Victor waved back in response, his eyes closed yet looking skyward. 

“I didn't know you had a poodle!”

“Yes! Meet Makkachin!” Victor bent down to rub the poodle on the head. “Makkachin, met Yuuri! He's a skater, just like me.” Then Victor buried his head in Makkachin’s fur and held his front legs out in front of him moving them as if he were the one talking. 

“Hello Yuuri! I like you and I think we're going to get along!” Makkachin simply let Victor manipulate his body, panting gently with his tongue hanging out. Yuuri blushed slightly as he smiled back at Victor and Makkachin, reaching out to pet the dog. 

“Hi Makkachin. I think we're going to get along well too.”

Victor sighed at the memory. They had walked part of the way back together and Victor had come to learn that Yuuri used to have a poodle of his own, very similar to Makkachin, but he had sadly passed away right before one of Yuuri’s competitions last season. Victor knew how much it would hurt if Makkachin was no longer with him and he wished he could have been there at the time to give him loads of hugs. Anything to ease the pain. 

He was glad he had had a proper chance to have a conversation with Yuuri and after their bonding walk together (it was a shame they'd had to part ways so soon) Yuuri had become a little more comfortable around Victor. He would wave or say hi as they passed each other in the corridor and however small of a gesture this was, it was progress and it made Victor happy. 

And when Victor felt the familiar buzz of a phone in his pocket, he checked it to see an event notification from Phichit and possibilities started to form in his head.  _ Blind Skate.  _ This might just be his chance. He scrolled through the invite list until he found the name he was looking for. Yuuri Katsuki had not yet answered, but if Phichit was up to something - which Victor was certain he was - Yuuri would not get a huge amount of choice in the matter. 

He clicked the ‘attend’ button. 

\---

Ugh. 

Yuri didn't want to be at the stupid party. The only reason he had come was because Otabek and Mila had insisted upon it. Well, he had mainly come because of Otabek. Mila tried to drag him along to so many parties he knew that if he said ‘No’ enough times she'd eventually leave him alone. Otabek, on the other hand? He very rarely asked anything of Yuri and to be quite honest his request for his company on this occasion had taken him by surprise. He'd said yes, of course. Mainly because he couldn't think of a reason not to, but also because Otabek was his friend. 

The arrival of Victor Nikiforov did nothing but further the wish that he was still at home.  _ Just don't do anything that might make me regret it.  _ Well, he had begun to regret his decision ever since Victor had started flirting with the other, stupid Yuuri. He did not want to be involved in the love life of his new coach. Not when Victor came into his lessons with heart-eyes, talking about ‘love’ and ‘life’ and acting as though the world was perfect, especially when Yuri knew those things were directed at his longterm rival and he certainly did not want to see Victor hitting on pork cutlet bowls.  _ At least he’s not flirting with JJ,  _ Otabek had said. Well, although that was true, Katsudon was not much better. Yuri wanted to focus on skating in his lessons and wished that he didn’t have to share Victor’s attention with anyone else. 

What was all this crap about pair skating, anyway? He watched as Phichit drew the first two names from the hat. Everyone applauded as Leo offered his hand to a blushing Guang Hong and the overjoyed lovebirds took to the ice. Yuri wasn't sure how much more of this he could take, and it had only just begun. At least Yuko and Takeshi had skated to an upbeat, jazzy number. They weren't the best skaters but it had been mildly fun to watch, unlike this sickly romance that was playing out in front of his eyes. The music - Le Parfum des Fleurs - was actually not too bad, but somehow they had managed to make it so cheesy it made him want to be sick. 

He decided there and then that there was no way in hell he was going to participate in this activity, not after what happened last time with the dance-off Katsudon had challenged him to - so he proceeded to take matters into his own hands. Whilst Phichit was distracted by taking pictures of the couple in question, Yuri dug through the names in the top hat until he found his own and promptly removed it, shoving it into the pocket of his Team Russia jacket. No one seemed to notice except for Otabek, who shot him an inquisitive look. Yuri handed him the paper. 

“Now I won't be forced to do some soppy couple thing,” he explained. Otabek said nothing in return. Yuri tried to read his expression but it was proving difficult so he eventually gave up in favour of sitting together on a bench together side by side, watching the events unfold before them. 

\---

As soon as he'd announced the way everything was going to work, Mickey had approached Phichit to complain. 

“I don't want my sister skating with anyone here. It's not safe.” Phichit was sure that it Sara had been in earshot she would not have had the same view and fortunately for her, Phichit was already prepared for this situation. 

“Yeah, sure,” he responded. “I'll see to it myself. I won't let Sara pair skate with any of the guys here.”

“I just can't bear the thought of her being-- oh, you just agreed with me?! Thank you, Phichit, I knew you'd understand.” He patted Phichit on the shoulder. It was at that moment that Emil happened to show up. 

“Hey Mickey, what are you talking about?” 

“I was saving my sister and preventing her from getting upset,” he explained proudly. 

“You know, at some point you're going to have to let her lead her own life.” He slung his arm over Mickey’s shoulder and led him away, deep in conversation. He turned back to wink at Phichit, who waved back. 

The first couple after Yuko and Takeshi was a personal favourite of his; Leoji. He'd known about Leo and Guang Hong’s mutual feelings for each other for ages now so it was only a matter of time before something happened between them. He sighed as he watched them and took several pictures. The triplets were busy on a social media mission too, and had set up a couple of cameras all around the room. Nothing would go undocumented. 

He ran through the order of events in his head. There were six couples left to go. Well, five and a half, seeing as Georgi had not yet made an appearance. Oh well. He would cross that bridge when he came to it and besides, there was still a chance he might show up. 

Guang Hong and Leo made their way off the ice as Phichit prepared himself for the next announcement. The new couple stood very close to each other, holding hands and blushing profusely. If that was the only thing to come out of this evening, he had done well. 

Everyone gathered round again as he pulled the next name out of the hat. 

“Next up we have… Emil Nekola!” All eyes turned to him and he grinned. “Aaannnd…” He kept up the suspense as Mickey visibly prayed for anyone but Sara. 

“Michele Crispino!” The look of bewilderment across his face was priceless and Axel managed to get a good closeup of it. Emil grinned and bowed to his friend. 

“Will you be my partner on the ice?” He asked sweetly, still grinning. Mickey begrudgingly accepted and they skated out together to the soundtrack of ‘L’homme Arme’. 

Five more couples to go, and this next one was going to be fun. 

“Sara Crispino.”

Mickey had only just got off the ice and it took him a while to be horrified, but he got there. 

“Sara, I won't let you do this. We're going home! I trusted you, Phichit!”

“I haven't actually broken my promise, you know,” he replied calmly. 

“What are you guys talking about? Mickey, what promise?” Sara interjected. “Look, I want to make my own choices in life. Lead my own life. And I can't do that if we always skate together, Mickey.”

“I love you, Sara. You are my whole world.”

“And that's why you've got to let me go. Phichit, who's my ice partner?” He didn't even look at the paper. 

“Mila Babicheva.”

Mickey went from horrified to confused to horrified again as Mila came up to Sara. 

“Let's go girl.” Mickey burst into tears. He watched them skate out together hand in hand as ‘Serenade for Two’ began with it's beautiful introduction. Emil joined Mickey where he had collapsed on a bench and put his arm round to comfort him. 

Mila and Sara’s duet was the best so far by a long way. They both had experience in pair skating and they included many lifts with grace and Phichit decided they must have practiced together before. Nobody could be that perfect or in sync without training for a long time. Well, the world was full of surprises and sometimes there was even personal information that Phichit  _ didn't _ know about people. 

Sara was in tears by the time she left the ice, and ran over to her brother. 

“Sara, that was beautiful!”

“I'm sorry I said such mean things to you, Mickey. But I'm glad I did. I do think we're much better apart. I'm going to start dating now. Besides, I think Emil likes you.” She ran back to join Mila and Mickey was so shocked he couldn't move. He eventually turned to look at Emil who smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek. Phichit may have got a photo of that moment. Who wouldn't? Mickey’s face was priceless and that was  _ definitely _ going on the internet. 

Four couples left to go. 

\---

It was a couple of days before the party and everyone had gathered at the rink to watch the Ladies’ Free Skate at The Worlds. That is everyone except Yuuri. Victor noticed this as soon as he entered the room and scanned the crowds for the Japanese skater. He stayed for a little while before slipping away - he knew Yuuri style by now, which was basically ‘if a lot of people are gathered in one place, I get the rink to myself’, which in turn meant that Victor got his own, free, private, live performance. 

He made his way towards the rink when he noticed he was humming along to a familiar tune. He realised suddenly that it was the music to his free skate, Stammi Vicino. Odd. It grew louder the closer he got to the rink and when he finally pushed open the doors the melodious sound greeted his ears at full blast and he was greeted with a sight he'd only ever dreamed of. 

Yuuri Katsuki was skating his free program. And he was skating it  _ well _ . 

\---

Why did couples always have to be so disgusting? This is why he wasn’t in love. Yuri had watched the whole drama play out from his position at the side. It turned out Otabek’s shoulder was the perfect height to rest his head and at some point - he wasn’t quite sure when it happened - Otabek had begun running his fingers through Yuri’s hair. It was relaxing and he even shut his eyes for a while, letting the soothing sensations lull him into a place of calmness. By the time Otabek had begun braiding his hair he was vaguely aware that Phichit was about to make his next announcement.

“Yurio Plisetsky!”

_ “Huh?!” _ His first thought had been ‘that’s not my name,’ but it had very quickly dawned on him that he had removed his name from the hat and therefore  _ should not have been called at all.  _ He stood up, brushing Otabek’s hand out of the way and walked towards Phichit aggressively. “Give me that!” he said, trying to snatch the piece of paper from Phichit’s hands. Unfortunately, he was too late, as he saw Phichit drop the slip back into the hat and draw the next name. Damn-it. He wouldn’t be able to expose Phichit now, except… except he could. 

“Phichit’s cheating! There’s no way that was my name he pulled out of the hat, because I took my name out myself so that I couldn’t be chosen.”

“Doesn’t that make  _ you  _ the cheater, then?” Yuuri pointed out.

“Uugh!! Don’t you see it? All the couples drawn have been suspiciously well matched, he’s got it rigged or something! You’re all idiots if you can’t see through this so-called ‘random’ system. Look, I’ll prove it, here’s the paper!” He delved into his pocket desperately trying to find the piece of paper in question. Nothing. He tried the other one. Still nothing.  _ Crap, he’d given it to Otabek, hadn’t he... _

“Otabek, give me the paper,” he said, holding out his hand. People had already started to snigger and he was getting impatient.  _ “Give me the paper,” _ he repeated, more urgently this time.

“What paper?” Otabek asked, looking genuinely confused. 

“You know exactly what paper.”

“I… don’t have anything,” he explained calmly, turning his pockets inside out to reveal nothing but a clean tissue, his phone and an old watch. People had started to laugh now - Nikiforov included, which made it ten times worse. Yuri felt like he was going to explode, before a realisation dawned on him.

“You… you put it back, didn’t you. You bastard!!” Otabek simply shrugged, the look of confusion still present on his face. 

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yuri, don’t you want to know who you’re paired with?” Phichit chimed in innocently. Yuri sighed in exasperation.

“Fine.” He went up and took the paper right from Phichit’s hands and unfolded it. And once he read the name - several times, in fact - he proceeded to stand there, frozen in dumbfounded silence. 

“We’re all dying to know who you got, Yuri,” Mila taunted from the sides.

“Uuugh!!!” He aggressively stomped over to the wall, threw his skate guards in her direction and held out his hand. “Come on, Beka. We’re up.”

\---

Victor had insisted on standing very close to him throughout the whole event. That wasn’t a bad thing by any means - no, it was, in fact, a very good thing - it just wasn’t something he was used to. It took all his strength not to listen to the scared, overwhelmed voice inside him telling him to run away and he stayed put with Victor, leaning against the barrier watching the skaters as they were chosen.

Every time Phichit picked another set of names, Yuuri’s head got a little bit lighter and his stomach got a little bit heavier. His name could be called at any point, and so could Victor’s. There was no guarantee that they would be paired together, though as more and more people were chosen, the more likely their chances became. He’d not wanted to admit to himself that he was hoping to be with Victor, but with him standing so close it was hard to think of anything BUT skating with him. As he watched Mila and Sara skate, he imagined what Victor’s hands would feel like in Yuuri’s own, what it would feel like to be lifted off the ice by him, what it would feel like to--

Phichit was calling names again.  _ Oh. Yurio’s been called _ . This was going to be interesting. The two of them watched as the younger Russian skater caused a minor strop in front of the group and Victor started laughing. Yurio threw him a dirty look which just made him laugh more. To be fair he had  _ tried  _ to disguise it but it really hadn’t worked at all. Yuuri looked up at Victor and felt a blush forming across his cheeks. Victor was adorable when he laughed like that. He turned away and went back to leaning on the barrier, and this time he felt a warm hand on his back as Victor joined him once more. They watched in silence for a while until Victor spoke up.

“I’m really glad Otabek and Yuri found each other.”

“So am I.”

“I’m glad we found each other, too.” 

Yuuri didn’t know how to respond. He wanted to tell Victor how he felt there and then, but couldn’t bring himself to do so and face the possibility of rejection. Instead he nodded slightly and said a simple “Yes.” Victor put his arm fully around Yuuri and he didn’t move away; it was then that Yuuri realised the reason his heart was beating so fast was because of how happy he was. 

Yuri and Otabek’s pair skate eventually came to an end and Yuuri mentally prepared himself for the next announcement. There were four people left that he could potentially get if he was picked; Victor, Minako, Seung-gil and… Chris. He thought about what Yuri had said about the not-so-random nature of the pairings and he hoped that meant things would work out in his favour, recalling the conversation he’d had with his roommate when he’d first sent out the invitations. If not, then he just had to hope. He prayed to whatever Gods might be out there connected with good luck and hoped that Phichit would somehow pick out the names that he wanted. 

“Victor Nikiforov,” Phichit began. Yuuri held his breath as his best friend drew the second name. Phichit smirked over in his direction. “And Yuuri Katsuki!” 

Yuuri’s world was spinning. It was really going to happen. He was going to skate with Victor Nikiforov. That was until Victor left his side to have a word with Phichit and Yuuri’s anxiety flooded back to him. Was he not happy with the results? Did Victor not want to skate with him so much that he was going to ask Phichit to change it? Victor was walking back over to Yuuri now he somehow had to appear alright. 

“Yuuri,” Victor said as he kept on walking, pushing Yuuri into the barrier so that his head was leaning back towards the ice. “I want you to skate the first part of our dance on your own.” Yuuri gulped, looking up into Victor’s eyes. This was it. “But I want you to skate as if you’re skating only for me. As if I’m the person that matters most to you in the world.” Then he leaned forwards into Yuuri and his voice turned to barely a whisper. “I’ve seen you do it before and I’d like to see you do it again. I’ll join you when the time is right.” Yuuri had no idea where his sudden burst of confidence came from, but he pushed Victor back up and pressed their foreheads together.

“Don’t take your eyes off me.” Victor responded by taking off his coat and scarf to reveal the clothes he was wearing underneath. And what he was wearing happened to be his free skate costume, and it was only now that Yuuri could see them both close up did he realise that Phichit had not just picked out something similar,  _ they were exactly the same. _ The colours were different, of course, as Victor’s was a bright pink and Yuuri’s a midnight blue, but together they looked, well, amazing.  _ Victor must have known all evening, and I had no idea… Wait, did Phichit  _ plan  _ this? How did he know?  _ It then dawned on Yuuri that now was not the time to be wondering how Phichit knew things and with a look of determination skated out onto the ice. 

It didn’t surprise Yuuri that the music that had been picked was ‘Stammi Vicino’; after all that had just happened he would have been more surprised if it  _ hadn’t  _ been. But this arrangement was different - it had begun with a gentle piano introduction rather than a full orchestra. At first Yuuri didn’t recognise it, but the entrance of the singer clarified his thoughts and he skated the way he felt the music, the way he had skated Victor’s program to Yuko.  _ How had Victor seen that? _ He pushed his thoughts aside as he focussed on skating for Victor and only Victor. 

It was when the music was approaching its first cadence that Victor joined Yuuri on the ice. Seeing Victor skate towards him filled his heart with warmth and the two of them blended into one. Yuuri was unfamiliar with lifts but he let Victor pick him up and trusted that he wouldn’t fall. It was when the singer came back in that he noticed there were two voices; a soprano had joined to match the tenor. He wasn’t sure who was more brilliant; Phichit for finding the duet version of the aria or Victor for choreographing it the way that he did. All that mattered at that moment was Victor’s hand in his as they skated for each other and the world.

\---

Two couples left to go.

“Does anyone know if Georgi’s coming?” Phichit asked the assembled crowd. Victor had hugged Yuuri from behind after their pair skate and refused to let go. Not that Yuuri was complaining. Throughout their rendition of ‘Stammi Vicino’ no one could take their eyes off the pair, and he’d even felt himself tearing up. He wasn’t the only one, however, as he noticed Emil and Leo having a similar kind of problem. The only person who perhaps wasn’t as impressed by the couple was Yurio, and even he didn’t look as disgusted as one might have come to expect from him. Maybe he was finally coming to realise that you can’t control who people fall in love with?

“I heard he was on a date with some girl.”

“Didn’t they break up?”

“Yeah, that was Anya. She dumped him to be with some hockey player. But I think he’s found someone else now?”

“That’s a relief, I was starting to think he’d never move on. It was beginning to get kinda creepy...”

“I’m happy for him.”

Well, at least that had told Phichit what he needed to know.

“Okay, then. Next up we have Chris and Minako!” 

All heads turned to where Minako was slumped in a corner surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol. 

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” suggested Guang Hong.

“Yeah, as far as I was aware we’re not supposed to ‘drink in the rink’,” added Mila.

“Hey, what’s happening? I didn’t know you guys were all doing something cool, I totally would have come if I’d known!” Everyone turned to see JJ standing in the doorway with Isabella, pointing his finger enthusiastically at the group. No one really knew what to say. Yuri gave him a death glare and Otabek put a hand on him to try and prevent any outburst that might occur. 

“Actually, we’re nearly finished.”

“Yeah, we’re all about to leave…”

“We just need to clear up and stuff…” 

“Too bad. Isabella and I have plans anyway so see you all tomorrow! It’s… JJ STYLE!” He did his signature hand gesture whilst flashing a pearly-white grin and swaggered out with his arm around his girlfriend. Once they’d left, Phichit resumed the discussion once more. 

“Well, in that case that leaves Chris and Seung-gil!” Chris immediately grabbed the bottle Minako was still attempting to hold and poured the remaining liquid straight into his mouth. 

“Sorry, I think I’m too drunk as well. Maybe there’s another person who hasn’t skated yet?”

“Yeah, Phichit, you should skate too!” Leo called out.

“Phichit and Seung-gil!” Minami exclaimed. 

“Phichit! Phichit! Phichit!” The room began chanting and it was enough for Seung-gil himself to remove his headphones and get up from the corner he hadn’t left all evening.

“Alright, I’ll skate with Phichit,” he said, much to everyone’s surprise, and however much Phichit tried to pretend that it wasn’t necessary for him to participate, the smile on his face told everyone he was very, very happy. 

There was only one couple left, and they skated to ‘Almavivo’.

\---

Most people had already left when Otabek approached Phichit. Yuko and Takeshi had gone to put their girls to bed after the pair skating was over but everyone else  had moved into one of the function rooms to continue the celebrations in there. Chris had brought his pole (obviously) and had been joined by Minako as this time Yuuri had avoided the alcohol and chose to spend the evening wrapped up in Victor’s arms. Leo and Guang Hong had disappeared to who-knows-where and Mila and Sara were… getting intimate. Mickey, on the other hand, was still in a state from the evening’s experiences and wasn’t sure how to take Emil’s overly flirtatious comfort and support. Seung-gil had left early, but had made a point of thanking Phichit for organising the event and said he particularly enjoyed their pair skate, which made him blush. That left Yurio and Otabek, who sat to one side as they always did, only this time Yuri rested his head in Otabek’s lap as he played on his phone.

“I know the system was rigged.” That certainly got Phichit’s attention, and he looked up to see Otabek looming over him.

“What makes you think that?” He asked, playing it cool.

“Well, the suspicious couples was one thing, and also the way you put everyone’s names back in the hat every time but never seemed to pick anyone twice.”

“It’s fate. The Gods are clearly avid shippers!”

“I actually wanted to thank you.”

“Oh, well, it’s no big deal, I guess, honestly, I-- well, I didn’t actually do anything but if we were to pretend for a second that I did, say, read out whoever I wanted to on the paper and not what it actually said then I guess I’d make an excellent matchmaker?”

“You do make an excellent matchmaker, and I wanted to give you a gift for your efforts.” He handed Phichit a small piece of paper before turning to leave the room. “I’ll see you around.”

Phichit already knew what would be on the piece of paper, but he opened it anyway and smiled. It read:

_ Yuri Plisetsky. _

 

***THE END***

**Author's Note:**

> Oops I forgot to include Minami in the epilogue part... o.O Let's be real though I think those Victuuri feels were just too much for him and he probably passed out from all the fanboying tbh
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day woooooo


End file.
